Classically, skis were used to travel over snow in the northern parts of Europe. Two separate slender boards were strapped to a skier's feet, and they could travel over snow. Later, skis were used for recreational purposes to travel down snow-covered mountains. Skiing became a popular sport among those who lived near mountains and those who could afford to travel to ski resorts. Skis and bindings developed into specialized technologies that have been the subject of many patents.
Separately, surfing and surfboards developed on the California coast. Sneaking through farm fields to get to the coast, would-be surfers near Santa Cruz, Calif. would carry their surfboards to the beaches. Once there, surfers balanced on surf boards as they rode waves coming in from the Pacific Ocean. Surfboards developed into long and short boards and a variety of related devices such as windsurfers (sailboards) and boogie boards, and were also the subject of many patents.
These two inventions came together in Incline Village on Lake Tahoe. Burton, a student at the time, decided to surf the mountain. He created a contraption that used the single wide plank of a surfboard, and bindings similar to those used on skis, allowing one to use boots when riding. Thus, the snowboard was born. From these initial beginnings, snowboards went from second-class technology on mountains, often prohibited at many resorts, to an extremely popular alternative to skis on essentially all mountains.
Snowboards and indeed skis, work by compressing the snow or ice under the board causing a small amount of the snow or ice to melt. The resulting water from the melt is trapped between the snow or ice under the board and the underside of the board. The water between the snow or ice and the board provides a very low drag contact interface between board and slope resulting in a fast descent of board and rider. Although this arrangement is a low drag or low friction system, friction or drag remains. It is this remaining drag or friction that determines the speed of a given board rider and slope gradient combination. The amount of drag is directly related to the contact area between board and snow or ice.
Slow progress down a mountain may be desirable to novices. However, fast boards are generally desired by experienced users. Thus, it may be desirable to provide a snowboard with a reduced surface area in contact with snow.
Conventional snowboards are controlled directionally by the rider by shifting weight from one side of the board to the other. This is done progressively depending on the sharpness of the turn desired. The sharpest of turns are provided by shifting so much weight to one side that the whole board is tilted about its longitudinal axis until the board is riding on one of its outer edges. These outer edges are hardened with a sharp steel strip embedded in the edge and curved. Seen in plan view from above the left and right edges of the boards are slightly concave. When riding on these concave edges the board turns in the corresponding arc that the concave edge dictates. This system works well when the rider wishes to turn one way or the other.
The system has several drawbacks. If the rider wishes to progress on a straight course particularly on compact snow or ice, the rider must rapidly switch from one side to the other. Without switching, the board tends to wander, due to changing snow conditions. When a board wanders, it can “catch an edge” on the snow, by having an edge of the board bite into snow due to an imperfection encountered in the snow. Thus, it may be useful to provide a board which allows for improved stability.
It may be useful to provide a snowboard in which the rider may rapidly switch from an edge to the other without the risk of catching an edge. Such a snowboard may allow for improved stability. Moreover, the snowboard may involve the nose and the tail of the board both curved upwards and flat or wherein only one of the nose and the front, preferably the nose, is curved upwards. Also, such a snowboard may have a reduced area contact with the snow. Such a snowboard may be highly reliable, relatively easy to manufacture and at a competitive cost.